Transparency: The key to building trust

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By David Lykken
Special to MPA

Every industry, every relationship, and every transaction is built on the foundation of trust. If there isn't at least a minimum level of trust, money will never change hands. In our industry--an industry that has taken quite a few hits in the media in recent years--establishing trust is even more important.

The recession did a lot to undermine the trust people have in the mortgage industry. Rather than pointing fingers and trying to find out who's to blame, though, let's look to the future and ask the relevant question. How do we go about reestablishing the trust that we've lost?

If there is one way to go about rebuilding trust with customers, investors, employees, and the public, I would have to say that the magic bullet is transparency. I know that the concept is a little abstract, and it will mean different things for different organizations. But, as a guiding principle for making decisions, there is no greater goal for ensuring trust than transparency.

Trust breaks down where secrets flourish. People are skeptical of others in a transaction, because they fear (often rightly so) that there are important things being hidden from them or that there are ulterior motives. When that fear is strong enough, the distrust prevents the transaction from taking place.

By building your organization around transparency, you can instill confidence in the people with whom you do business. Where there is transparency, there is trust. And where there is trust, there is progress.